Can you teleport others without teleporting yourself?

Question

As per Teleport (d20pfsrd) can you teleport others without having to teleport with them?

Answer 1

In general, there are ways to teleport other people without teleporting yourself,¹ but the teleport spell itself does not enable that. It targets “You, and […],” and the description literally starts with “This spell instantly transports you to a designated destination,” (emphasis mine). It affecting anyone or anything else is addressed later, saying “You may also bring […],” meaning have those things teleport with you, not teleport independently of you.

1. _{I’d suggest some, but I can’t think of any that match teleport’s extreme range. Plane shift, I guess, sort of. And I guess you could shove someone through a gate, though that’s not the same thing.}

Answer 2

Teleport will transport you and any additional targets

The range of Teleport is "personal and touch", not simply touch. It also targets "you and touched objects or other touched willing creatures" This means that you must be the target of this spell.

Other spells may be able to teleport others

There are several spells which will teleport other creatures. The best example would be Teleportation Circle, which reads as follows:

You create a circle on the floor or other horizontal surface that teleports, as greater teleport, any creature who stands on it to a designated spot.

This doesn't necessarily have to include you.

Furthermore, Ice Crystal Teleport is a spell that has a target of one creature and reads as follows:

This spell functions as teleport, except you use it to teleport yourself or one other creature to a safe location you specify

The spell Callback and it's greater version can teleport your familiar or spirit animal to you if it takes damage:

If the target takes hit point damage while within range of this spell, it immediately teleports to your space (or adjacent to your space) after the damage is applied.

The 3rd level Bard spell Jester's Jaunt targets one living creature and can move a creature close to you:

You teleport the target to a space you can see within 30 feet of the target.

The Paladin/Inquisitor/Antipaladin spell Litany of Escape targets one creature and can help a grappled ally:

The target loses the grappled and pinned conditions and is teleported 10 feet.

The spell Apport Animal, which works as Apport Object, which in turn can function as Teleport Object, will allow you to "Send" an animal to someone.

From Apport Animal:

This spell functions like apport object except the target is an animal. Only normal, non-magical creatures of the animal type can be teleported.

From Apport Object:

If you choose to send the object elsewhere, the spell functions like teleport object, except the size of the object is limited and the distance it can travel is equal to only 25 feet + 5 feet per 2 levels...You can place the object in the open or inside a container, a pocket, or even someone’s hand.

From Teleport Object:

This spell functions like teleport, except that it teleports an object, not you.

Dimensional Travel spells may "Teleport" other creatures

Plane Shift can be used offensively and target one creature touched:

You move yourself or some other creature to another plane of existence or alternate dimension.

Dismissal and Homeward Bound can send a creature back to it's home plane if it is an outsider. From Dismissal:

This spell forces an extraplanar creature back to its proper plane if it fails a Will save. If the spell is successful, the creature is instantly whisked away, but there is a 20% chance of actually sending the subject to a plane other than its own.

A Gate spell can connect two planes, being used either as a gateway between said planes or to call other creatures through it

For planar travel:

As a mode of planar travel, a gate spell functions much like a plane shift spell, except that the gate opens precisely at the point you desire (a creation effect) …Travelers need not join hands with you–anyone who chooses to step through the portal is transported. A gate cannot be opened to another point on the same plane; the spell works only for interplanar travel.

For calling a creature:

The second effect of the gate spell is to call an extraplanar creature to your aid (a calling effect). By naming a particular being or kind of being as you cast the spell, you cause the gate to open in the immediate vicinity of the desired creature and pull the subject through, willing or unwilling…This use of the spell creates a gate that remains open just long enough to transport the called creatures.

Similarly, the Planar Ally line of spells can be used to call a creature. You can call a specific creature if you wish:

If you know an individual creature’s name, you may request that individual by speaking the name during the spell (though you might get a different creature anyway).

There are spells from Pathfinder's basis, D&D 3.5, that could do this

Baleful Transposition from the Miniatures Handbook reads:

Two target creatures, of which you may be one, instantly swap positions.

This spell allows for you to be one of the targets, but does not require it. Benign Transposition from the Spell Compendium works exactly the same way, except both targets must be willing.

Shuffle from Shining South allows you to grant creatures short range teleportation:

You grant one creature, plus one additional creature for every five caster levels, the ability to teleport a short distance as a move action.

Tactical Teleportation from Complete Mage targets one willing creature per 3 caster levels:

This spell instantly teleports a number of willing creatures a short distance with no chance for mishap, as greater teleport. Effectively, tactical teleportation lets you reposition a number of allies (including yourself, if you choose) around the battlefield.

Trobriand's Baleful Teleport from City of Splendors: Waterdeep allows you to send one creature to a designated location:

As teleport, except that you send the targeted creature (and only that creature) and carried objects to a designated destination.

This is not a comprehensive list.

Answer 3

As a point of historical legacy, it can be noted that throughout the legacy of the D&D spell which fed into Pathfinder (starting in 1974), none of the editions 0E, 1E, 2E, or 3E gave any explicit permission for the teleport spell to be used on others while the caster remained in place.

The 80's side-branch of the Basic/Expert rules (contemporaneous with 1E) was unusual in that it did give that power to the spell. As a result, many of the players who started with that edition have a baked-in memory that the spell can be used in that way.

And if one looks at the description of the helm of teleportation item in any of those early rulesets, that does seem to give the capacity to that item, and possibly by implication the original spell as well.

See my blog article here on the details of the teleport spell legacy.

Furthermore, as a point of literary tradition, it seems clear that Gary Gygax took the overall sensibility and mechanics for teleporting from the 1957 Alfred Bester sci-fi novel, The Stars My Destination. In that book, humans can generally teleport themselves from place to place with proper study and orientation; they can only bring someone else (possibly someone incapacitated or crippled) if they physically pick them up as they teleport themselves.

Read more on Bester's The Stars My Destination on my blog here.